Partitioning your shop for AC

[sbwertz]

I was talking to a member about air conditioning his shop. He said it was too large to cool with a small window AC unit.

Before I had a shop, I needed to do some work in the summer and all I had was a carport to work on...in a Phoenix summer. I bought a portable evap unit, (Relative humidity here is about 7 percent, so evap works great.) half a dozen sheets of 4x8 1" thick styrofoam insulation. I hinged it together with duct tape and used it to make a little "room" to work in. When I didn't need it I folded it along the duct tape hinges and stood it against the wall.

Worked like a charm. I can see no reason you couldn't use the same technique to wall off a small corner of a large workshop. If you pick an area with a window, you could put a small window AC unit into the window. If there is no window you could use a portable AC unit. It should keep the small area cool enough to work in even in very hot weather. When not needed, fold it up and put it away.

The styrofoam panels are only about $18 per sheet. You can get a small window AC unit for less than a hundred dollars. In the winter, the same setup would keep a small working area warm with just a small space heater.

 

[plantman]

I was talking to a member about air conditioning his shop. He said it was too large to cool with a small window AC unit.

Before I had a shop, I needed to do some work in the summer and all I had was a carport to work on...in a Phoenix summer. I bought a portable evap unit, (Relative humidity here is about 7 percent, so evap works great.) half a dozen sheets of 4x8 1" thick styrofoam insulation. I hinged it together with duct tape and used it to make a little "room" to work in. When I didn't need it I folded it along the duct tape hinges and stood it against the wall.

Worked like a charm. I can see no reason you couldn't use the same technique to wall off a small corner of a large workshop. If you pick an area with a window, you could put a small window AC unit into the window. If there is no window you could use a portable AC unit. It should keep the small area cool enough to work in even in very hot weather. When not needed, fold it up and put it away.

The styrofoam panels are only about $18 per sheet. You can get a small window AC unit for less than a hundred dollars. In the winter, the same setup would keep a small working area warm with just a small space heater.

Sharon; That is a great idea!!! Unless, of course, your a little claustrophobic. Before I made a seperate finishing room in my workshop, I used clear pastic hung from the trusses to keep my area warm/cool when working. I used 2x2s stapled to the bottoms of the sheets to keep them taught. I kept the corners open so I could roll them up and ties to hold them up when not in use. You could also use a single sheet of plastic, and just keep one corner open or use Velcro to close it when in use. Only problem with each system, is to watch the dust build up in small areas. You made need some type of dust removal. If you don't have a window for your AC, you will need some type of drain hose to get rid of the water however. You can buy a 8' X 100' roll of clear plastic for arond $10.00. Jim S